


And It's Only For The Brave

by alittlewicked



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Family Feels, Loki and Thor Are Not Related, M/M, Selkies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 10:48:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23970088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alittlewicked/pseuds/alittlewicked
Summary: "Oops, dropped your coat!” Overly eager, Thor picked up the soft fur coat off the floor and carefully draped it back over the other man's chair.×The one where Loki is a selkie with a troubled past and maybe Thor is just what he needed all along.
Relationships: Hela & Loki (Marvel), Loki & Loki's Children (Marvel), Loki/Thor (Marvel)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 56





	1. Pour Mercy, Mercy On Me

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, another selkie fic. Sue me.
> 
> The title is taken from Only For The Brave by Louis Tomlinson.

Come away, o human child!  
To the waters and the wild  
with a faery, hand in hand,  
for the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

W. B. Yeats

  
×

"Oops, dropped your coat!” Overly eager, Thor picked up the soft fur coat off the floor and carefully draped it back over the other man's chair.

The bar was awfully packed this Friday evening and to be completely honest, he hadn't been looking where he walked just then. The coat's owner had caught his eye just seconds before and Thor may or may not have been stumbling a little as his complete focus had rapidly narrowed down to one being. 

Inky dark was gleaming in the low lights of the bar and pale skin made the man seem ethereal. Dark locks framed lump lips and high cheekbones like the most exquisite painting. Thor wanted to write poems and songs and headlines about such beauty.

He may have been blown away a tiny bit.

So he had tried to catch his balance by grabbing onto the back of the stool. And consequentally pushed that beautiful, criminally soft coat to the floor.

Green eyes stared at Thor then, wide and stunned. Long lashes, longer than any he had ever seen, sweeped down over those beautiful orbs, making him miss them acutely. A faint blush was spreading along those delectable cheekbones and he was entranced. 

Shaking his head to clear his mind, Thor awkwardly waved at the man and hurried to get lost in the mass of patrons around them. 

Way to leave an impression on the prettiest man he had ever seen.

  
×

  
"Ideally we'll find someone willing to claim you and the brats as their own." Long, elegant fingers wrapped around a tumbler full with ember-brown liquid, swirling it around and making ice klink against glass. "Then all of you would be safe, no one could come after you again. And yes, I know exactly how that sounds and I hate every tiny bit of it."

The 'and I can finally hunt the other one down and rid you of their claims went unsaid. But the sharp nails scratching against the wooden surface of the counter spoke volumes about the destinies just waiting to be served.

The soft murmuring of the bar's other patrons and the dimmed, golden lighting wrapped around him alluringly. The hustle and bustle of the red-head behind the bar counter as she handled the tabs and bottles with well-practiced ease was a welcome distraction from darker thoughts.

The hypnotising atmosphere was lost on his companion, apparently. 

"Preferably we'll find someone nice and dependable, to avoid what happened the last times. Someone the rugrats can look up to and to cherish them. It would have to be someone a bit dumb to not get any funny ideas. And them being pretty wouldn't hurt either." 

Green eyes, the same unearthly glowing shade of green as his, bore into Loki's.

"But until then, you'll stay here with me. We'll handle this, together!"

A shudder raced down his back at the intensity and fierceness in that gaze. But for the first time in forever, he felt safe again. 

His sister was by his side, strong and protective of her kin even in her righteous fury.

All his kids were safe and healthy, just a minute away upstairs. And having the time of their lives getting high on chocolate and pizza and cuddling a fluffy dog. 

Loki himself had his pelt wrapped around him, for the first time since forever. He had his fingers burried in the fluffy fur of his coat, feeling the call of the sea slither across his skin. He was settled in himself and completely in control like he hadn't felt for ages.

Smiling at Hela, he took his own glass and swirled the amber liquid inside around. Then he raised it to his lips, ready to have a taste of his new freedom and life.

"To new beginnings!" 

A smirk and the flashing of emerald green eyes met his toast.

"To family!"

  
×

  
Thor was just cooling down and doing a last round of stretches after his workout, when he saw Hela step into the gym and heading over to the sand sacks. 

"Hey there!" They weren't exactly close, but he was a firm believer in manners and politeness. So he sent a beaming grin her way, endorphins from his vigorous sparring match with Steve still coursing through his blood anyway. Also, he was a little bit afraid of her and he figured it couldn't hurt to make her like him. Just to be safe. For reasons. 

The raven haired returned his greeting with a nod, not even a smile crossing her face. 

That was more reaction than he had gotten last time, he'd take it. 

Thor brushed a hand over his forehead, trying to keep the sweat from dripping into his eyes. He was sat down on the ground, back bent low over one leg in a stretch, when a shadow fell over him. Surpressing a startle, he looked up warily and saw Hela towering over him. He hadn't heard her approach, even with his hightened senses and it made his hackles rise. 

She was silent, eyeing him with a stare that left him feeling naked and vulnerable. Weak even. No matter that he was twice her size in bulk and could physically overpower her if need be. 

Possibly. 

Probably. 

Who was he kidding.

Thor didn't know what she was and what she was able to do. But from what he had seen of the pale, dark haired woman during the few times they had worked together, he had better chances of surviving by running from her than trying to best her in a fight. 

And she was still staring at him.

He could feel his sweat cooling, his skin getting clammy. His skin was prickling with nerves and for the first time in his life, he felt like the prey rather than the predator.

"This is Jor." Apropos of nothing, Hela let something drop down on him.

It had Thor scrambling after the thing by instinct until he had it cradled against his broad chest. Only then did he look down at what she just chucked into his lap. 

And yelped excitedly: "Oh my gosh! Aren't you a pretty thing?" 

Winding around his wrist and tightly coiled to fit into his palms was a beautiful, tiny serpent. Yellow eyes blinked up at him inquisitively, grey scales shimmering in the harsh light of the gym like molten silver.

"I love snakes! They are just such majestic beings, I absolutely adore them!"

"Watch him for me, I'll be done in an hour."

Holding the little guy closer to his face to admire it, he giggled (manly of course because Hela was still in the room) as Jor's tiny forked tongue tickled along his beard and cheeks. 

From the corner of his eye, he saw as a speculative look crossed the woman's face as she began beating the crap out of the closest punching bag.

"You could do, actually." 

He wasn't sure if he was supposed to have heard her muttering over the sounds of flesh hitting leather, but he couldn't help but feel a shiver of unease race down his back.

×


	2. Set Fire To History

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading everyone and happy Mermay ;)!

His older sister was everything Loki could only ever hope to be. She was strong and independent. Wild as the waters they were born from. Ferocious even when it came to defend what was hers. 

To strangers she was as cold as the deepest parts of the Mariana Trench. It was in parts her personality, the iciness of the sea that birthed her as ingrained in her as the ability to change skins. And at the same time it was a well-trained defense mechanism. If you don't let anyone close then they couldn't hurt you. 

Or try to steal your pelt. 

Loki could tell you a thing or two about that.

But to her little brother Hela had always been as warm as the embrace of his own pelt. 

And as he had come to learn over the past few weeks, he wasn't the only one anymore she let close these days. On the one hand, he had always wished for her to find that: people to care for her as much as he did. A family that extended beyond Loki. 

But at the same time, he felt left behind. 

While he had been on a trip of self-discovery in Europe and consequentally got tricked into a five year relationship that had led to isolation and grief for most of that time, Hela had developed roots on land for herself. She had found people that loved her enough to go on a wild goose chase with her across the seven seas to find Loki - and loved them enough to let them help her. 

For one of their kind who was still closer to sea foam than humanity even after 20 odd years of existence, this was a huge feat. One that Loki desperately longed for himself - if not for him, then at least for the four innocent lives depending on him. 

They had been the one thing that had kept him sane and grounded out there on that lonely island in the middle of the Scottish sea.

So he had missed his sister dearly, had cried bitter tears into the ocean for her. For his babies. For the life that was stolen from them and himself. 

Loki had tried to be as strong as Hela, tried to let himself go cold inside like the vast ocean around him. But he had always been her opposite in everything but looks. He was soft and affectionate where she was harsh and unforgiving. He was affable and gentle where Hela was distant and stubborn. 

Stubborn to a fault, really.

Her unbent devotion to her family was what had finally led her to Loki after years of searching. In the end, it was thanks to seven tears full of pain and longing that led her to Eilean Mòr. She came down like an avenging angel and plucked him out of his misery. Him and his children. 

So when she stepped out of the grey, tumultous waters of the Atlantic, angry as the storm around them, Loki cried once more. 

But this time, it was happy tears.

  
×

  
Thor was confident to say that he had made a new friend. Because its been two weeks of him winding down his workout at the gym and Hela showing up as if she had sensed it to deposit a small snake in his lap. 

Regularly. 

Like every other day. 

For two weeks now.

Not that he was complaining, far from that, really! 

Because he hadn't lied when he told the fearsome woman that he loved snakes. And little Jor was just the best tiny snake ever. And the prettiest.

He let Thor stroke along his silvery scales admiringly with grace and luxuriated in the warm, rubbing motions. At least that's what the dazedly blinking eyes and the impatient wiggling each time Thor stopped his caresses suggested. 

"We're friends, right, big guy?" He murmured then, trying to get a glimpse at where Jor had wound himself around Thor's shoulders like a necklace. "Hey, no! No chewing on yourself! What if you're venomous?" 

With gentle fingers, Thor tried to pry open the small jaws from where they had been clamped around the end of Jor's tail. Surprisingly, for such a tiny guy, he had quite the strong grip. 

Looked like he had to bring out the big guns. 

Sneaking his thumb down to Jor's chin shields he zeroed right in over that group of scales he knew were especially sensitive. And then he tickled like he had never tickled anyone before. 

"Come on, Jor, be a good boy! Just let it go!" He may or may not have started humming the Frozen theme song.

He could feel Jor losening his grip on his own tail and the snake's scaly body wiggling along his neck.

And from one moment to the next, Thor had a happily giggling toddler in his lap.

  
×


End file.
